Buying flower is the easy part. The question that trips up a lot of first-timers is what to actually put it in — the wall of glass pipes, the water pipes, the little battery-powered gadgets. It's less complicated than it looks. Loose flower really only goes a handful of ways, and they mostly differ in convenience, how the smoke feels, and how much gear you're willing to clean. Here's an honest rundown of the four main ones, who each suits, and how to pick.

Do I need to grind my flower first?

For almost everything here, yes — and it's the single biggest upgrade to how any of these methods feel. Breaking a bud into an even, fluffy consistency lets air move through it, so it burns or vaporizes evenly instead of scorching on the outside and staying raw in the middle. You can pull a bud apart by hand in a pinch, but a grinder does it faster and more evenly, and it's the one accessory worth buying early. A joint or pre-roll and a dry-herb vaporizer both basically require ground flower; a pipe or bong strongly prefer it.

The hand pipe: the simplest place to start

A hand pipe — the classic "bowl," usually glass — is the most straightforward way to enjoy flower. You pack a small pinch of ground flower into the bowl, light the top while you draw, and that's the whole ritual. Nothing to roll, no batteries, no water. It's compact, cheap, and does exactly one thing.

Good for

• First-timers and casual use. The lowest-effort way to try loose flower without committing to rolling or a bigger setup.
• Small, controlled amounts. A bowl holds a little, so it's easy to have a modest amount and set it down.
• Portability at home. Small enough to keep in a drawer and rinse in the sink.

Worth knowing

The smoke is hot and undiluted, so it can feel harsher on the throat than the other methods — small draws help. Glass also needs cleaning as resin builds up, but a periodic soak in isopropyl alcohol brings a pipe back to like-new. A pipe suits someone who wants simple over smooth.

The water pipe (bong): a smoother, bigger draw

A bong runs the smoke through water before it reaches you. That water cools and lightly filters it, which is why a bong hit tends to feel noticeably smoother and less scratchy than the same flower in a dry pipe — even though the draw itself is usually bigger. You pack the bowl, light it, and the chamber fills before you clear it.

Good for

• People who find dry pipes harsh. Water cooling is the main reason bongs exist, and it's a real difference.
• A more deliberate, at-home ritual. A bong lives on a shelf, not in your pocket — it's a sit-down experience.
• Seasoned shoppers who already know their limits, since a bong draw can be larger than a pipe's.

Worth knowing

It's the least portable and the most maintenance — the water should be changed regularly (stale bong water is genuinely unpleasant), and the glass needs periodic cleaning. The bigger, smoother hit is also easy to underestimate, so if you're new, go easy and take a smaller pull than the chamber can hold. A bong rewards someone who's past the first-timer stage and wants a smoother smoke at home.

The joint or pre-roll: nothing to load, nothing to clean

A joint is ground flower rolled in a paper. The zero-effort version is a pre-roll — a joint the producer already rolled and packed for you, sold ready to go. There's no device to buy, load, or clean: you light one end, and when you're done, it's done. That simplicity is exactly why pre-rolls are one of the easiest first buys on the whole menu.

Good for

• Absolute beginners. A pre-roll skips gear entirely — no grinder, pipe, or battery required to try flower.
• Sharing and social-at-home moments. A joint passes around a living room naturally.
• Trying a strain simply, since a single-strain pre-roll is a clean way to taste one cultivar.

Worth knowing

Rolling your own has a small learning curve — if you want to, our step-by-step rolling guide walks through it — but a pre-roll removes that entirely. The trade-off versus a pipe or bong is that a joint burns continuously once lit, so it's less easy to take one puff and set aside; a smaller pre-roll or sharing solves that. Like any smoke, it's warm on the throat.

The dry-herb vaporizer: flower without a flame

A dry-herb vaporizer heats ground flower to a temperature that releases its aromatic compounds as vapor without actually burning it. You're not lighting anything and there's no combustion smoke — the draw is cooler and lighter, and the flavor of the flower often comes through more clearly. Note this is a flower vaporizer, which is different from a disposable oil vape pen; here you're loading your own ground bud into a chamber.

Good for

• Anyone who'd rather not smoke. No flame and no combustion smoke is the whole appeal — a gentler draw and less lingering smell than lighting flower.
• Flavor-focused shoppers. Vaporizing tends to bring out a strain's aroma and taste more than burning it does.
• Efficiency-minded users, since gently heated flower is used gradually rather than burned all at once.

Worth knowing

It's the biggest upfront purchase of the four and needs charging, a little temperature learning, and periodic cleaning of the chamber. There's a short setup curve compared to lighting a bowl. But for someone who wants flower without a flame — or who's sensitive to smoke — it's the standout option, and it's popular with seasoned shoppers precisely for the flavor and control.

So which one should I choose?

Match it to how much effort you want and how the draw feels, not to what looks most impressive on the shelf:

• "I just want to try flower with zero gear." A pre-roll — nothing to buy, load, or clean.
• "I want something simple and reusable." A glass hand pipe plus a grinder.
• "Dry smoke feels harsh to me." A water pipe (bong) for a cooler, smoother draw.
• "I'd rather not light anything or deal with smoke." A dry-herb vaporizer.

What should I pick up at Float On to get started?

The flower is the constant — every product on our shelf is Vermont-grown, since a Vermont dispensary can only sell in-state, lab-tested cannabis. From there it comes down to format. A couple of easy starting points:

• A pre-roll if you want to skip gear entirely — it's the simplest possible first buy.
• An eighth (or smaller) of flower plus a grinder if you're going the pipe, bong, or vaporizer route — that's enough to try a strain without over-committing.

We stock a rotating set of Vermont craft flower and pre-rolls, and the specific strains change as small-batch harvests come in and sell through. The best move is to browse the live menu to see what's fresh, or just tell a budtender when you visit us in downtown Burlington that it's your first time and which method you're leaning toward — they'll point you to something approachable rather than the strongest thing on the shelf.